Just The Two Of Us

JUST THE TWO OF US

BY FRANGIPANI

It is 4.00 a.m. 5th November, 1995. John and I have risen before dawn to prepare ourselves for our flight to Bali. We are going without the children this time, they are going to be looked after by their grandparents, at our home for the two weeks we will be away. This may sound unfair but they are looking forward to the change as much as we are. John's father arrives to pick us up and deliver us to the airport in time for our 7.00 a.m. flight. All goes according to plan and we are on our way on time. The Ansett plane we are flying on is much smaller than we are used to. It is not quite full, which is one of the pleasures of travelling off season. We always go away in the quiet time as everything is quieter and cheaper. We are given breakfast on the plane, which is very enjoyable. We do the usual things try to read, listen to music, watch movies etc. but are too excited to concentrate too much on anything. We are soon arriving at Denpasar Airport and the view out the window stirs up the emotions as we prepare to land. It is only 10.30 and the formalities are dealt with quickly and we are in our taxi heading for Sanur.

The weather is beautiful, warm and balmy, and the sights and the smells are just as we remember. We arrive at our hotel, Swastika Bungalows, Sanur (pronounced Swaz-Teeka) and check into our little bungalow. We booked a fan cooled room instead of the more expensive air-conditioned rooms. It is quite a small room but has a large outdoor bathroom which is very Balinese. As the room is not air-conditioned it has open eaves and only shutters at the windows, which is very lovely but we decide it will be an open invitation to the mosquitoes so decide to purchase a mosquito net from the supermarket, when we go to get our provisions. After we have unpacked and settled into our room, we decide to go for a stroll to reacquaint ourselves with Sanur, and get some lunch. We stroll along the main street, Jalan Danau Tamblingan, checking out the exchange rate as we go, it has risen quite a bit since last year which is always a good thing as our meagre amount of spending money stretches that bit further. We stop and exchange a traveller's cheque, and proceed to Kalpatharu Restaurant for lunch. We had breakfast here quite often last year as it is very cheap, but attractive none-the-less. After a pleasant lunch we go back to the street to hail a bemo to take us to the Supermarket on the bypass road. We stock up on water, drinks, snacks, insect spray and mosquito coils as well as our mosquito net. Loaded down with our shopping we cross the road and hail another bemo to take us back to the hotel. We try to install our mosquito net without much success and employ the assistance of a few of the male staff to assist us. After several ideas and much trouble we all manage to get it in place, it looks quite romantic. After all this activity we decide to go for a swim in the pool that is just outside our room. It is very refreshing and relaxing and we spend quite some time just lazing around. On our first evening we thought it would be nice to eat at the Sindhu Corner as we had several meals there last year and found it very enjoyable, and were pleasantly surprised to find it had not changed. A pleasant stroll back to our room, and another swim ended our first day back in paradise.

We woke next morning to find it overcast and raining. We went to have breakfast and decide on our activities for the day. As we have never been to the main market in Denpasar, Pasar Badung, we thought we would hire a taxi and venture into the city. The taxi delivered us to the marketplace, where we were immediately descended upon by a young lady who insisted on showing us around. Although we did not really want this assistance we found it hard to say so without offending her. She showed us around and explained what many of the fruit and spices were. It was quite dark inside and very cramped. It was definitely a local market place and not a tourist attraction, although the sellers were not slow in trying to charge us outrageous prices for everyday items. The market place was situated in a five storey building with different sections on each storey. The ground floor consisted of fruit, vegetables and spices and you proceeded upwards through the cookware, material, and other general goods. It was a most interesting place to visit, but next time we would like to go it alone. When we had finished at Pasar Badung we went out and across the bridge to the Arts and Crafts Markets across the river. This again was a very interesting market not really geared towards tourists. We had a pleasant browse around the paintings and woodcarvings, buying a few small items along the way. We then carried on along the street which only had ordinary little shops, and found a place to sit and have a drink. We decided to go to the Bird Market that we had visited once before, and once again had a pleasant look around. This again was meant only for the local people, but we find as long as you don't make yourself conspicuous nobody takes much notice of you, which is much nicer than being the centre of attention, which does happen on occasion and can be quite disconcerting. We made our way back to the hotel for lunch and a quiet swim and relaxing afternoon. After dinner, stroll and swim we retire after our first full day.

Tuesday arrives with yet more rain, so we decide to hire a car and take a drive out to Ubud. There is a car hire agent on the street at the front of the hotel, so John goes to negotiate while I get all our gear together for a day out. This consists of maps and books to guide us on our journey, sarongs in case we stop at a temple or need a towel or something to sit on or cover our shoulders if the sun gets too hot or many other purposes, snacks and drinks, camera and all related equipment, sufficient money and international driver's licence as well as all the usual stuff. All this done and we are on our way. We have decided to drive out through Batubulan where they do a lot of stone carving. We stopped to look at one place where they had a lot of carvings. We really would have liked to buy one to sit beside our pool spouting water, but the cost to have them shipped home was really too much so we decided against it. As we drove along we had seen several signs advertising a Bird Park which we had not heard about before, so we thought we would go and have a look. We found it just off the main road out past Batubulan on the way to Ubud. It cost us 14,000Rp., entrance fee which we thought seemed a lot, but it was such a beautiful place with birds from all over the world in lovely surroundings, the gardens were almost better than the birds. We spent a couple of hours wandering around and after refreshments we carried on to Ubud. After being stopped by the police for a licence check, we went to have a look at some of the restaurants perched along the top of the gorge overlooking the Ayung River. This is a very beautiful and scenic part of Bali, but as is usually the case the hotels and restaurants are taking over and make it difficult to just have a wander about admiring the view. We went on into Ubud and stopped for lunch (we seem to spend a lot of time stopping for food and drink when we are in Bali) then we proceeded on to the Ubud Market, which is quite large and very fascinating with many exotic items for sale. They have many things for sale that you don't see in other places. One item I have purchased on several occasions is a small woven box about 6"x2" which contains 12 little bottles of aromatic oil with varying fragrances and colours. They are very unique and quite lovely. I could spend days just browsing the myriad of stalls, but of course this would not please John. We bought a beautiful little necklace for Jessica from one lady. It was made entirely of tiny beads in pink and blue and had seven tiny dolls made to represent the seven days. It is so intricate, the Balinese people are so clever and artistic. After several hours of leisurely browsing we made our way home, in time for dinner at the Laghawa Bar and Grill, where we have dined before on several occasions, but it has changed enormously since our last visit and has become quite upmarket, consequently although we enjoyed a very nice meal the price was rather more than we usually like to pay. Never mind, we had a pleasant time and it doesn't hurt to spoil yourself occasionally.

Wednesday dawns with yet more rain. Quite a contrast to last year when the Balinese people were waiting desperately for rain which never showed up while we were here for 14 hot, sunny days. Yet again we decide to hire a car and head up into the mountains for a closer look at Mount Batur Volcano. We have seen Mount Batur on many occasions but have always wondered about the little winding road to be seen descending to the bottom of the old crater, by the lake. So we venture down into the crater on a very wet, misty morning. It is very eerie and very other worldly as there are only a few houses and the odd tiny restaurant dotted around and we felt very isolated, surrounded on all sides by mountains shrouded in low lying clouds. The road is only wide enough for one car, and is in a very bad state of disrepair, made much worse by the fact that they are mining the lava for road base and every so often you come face to face with a truck loaded up with the black rocks, causing much quick thinking and finding a minute space to pull into and allow them to pass. We proceeded very carefully around the base of the volcano, which unfortunately we could not get a clear view of due to the heavy cloud. I think this is the only time I have ever been really cold when in Bali, and wished the vehicle had a heater instead of an airconditioner. Despite these drawbacks it was a most fascinating drive and I would like to do it again on a fine day. We made our way back through the mountain villages and down through Ubud and back to Sanur, where the sun was shining.

Thursday dawns bright and sunny and having had several days on the road John thinks it would be nice to have a rest from driving and spend some time closer to home, in the pursuit of more relaxing activities. So we spend the day lounging around the pool. We have discovered since our arrival that there is another, much bigger pool in the centre of the hotel grounds, where you can have a massage, order refreshment or just laze on one of the lounging chairs set around the pool, which is what we did. We swam, had a massage and sun bathed the day away. Very relaxing indeed, this is what dreams are made of.

We start Friday off much the same as Thursday, but by lunchtime we have had enough of doing nothing and catch a taxi into Denpasar to have a look around Matahari department store, our old favourite. We have the usual leisurely look around and purchase a few knick-knacks for the children.

Saturday is yet another clear, sunny day, the rain seems to be gone for the time being. We are going to hire a car and drive up through the mountains to the north coast to visit the Banjar Hot Spring. We first encountered this heavenly spot on our 1988 visit and have gone back each time since. It is a natural spring fed pool, the water comes through beneath the mountains to be heated by the volcano, emerging at Banjar. It has been made into a large pool with several fountains spouting from the walls. It is the most luxurious feeling to swim in the sulphurous water, showering under the fountains. Magical! A beautiful openair restaurant overlooks the pool from the hillside and the surrounding vegetation is just breathtaking. Palm trees, banana trees, mangoes and every variety of fern and tropical plant must be situated in this place. If the Garden of Eden still exists on earth, this is it. Unfortunately, the usual rows of stalls have sprung up outside the entrance. But I suppose you can't blame the local villagers for trying to make a small living out of the influx of tourists to what was once their local bathing spot.

After a very long and luxuriant swim we proceed onward with the idea of driving along the north coast, down around the eastern tip of the island and back through KlungKlung. But we soon realise that having spent a long time at the Hot Spring it is too late for such an ambitious journey, and we take a short cut through the mountains and head for home.

Four days before the end of our holiday we decided we would indulge ourselves and upgrade our room to one of the bigger, airconditioned rooms. It seemed quite luxurious compared to our other little room. Although I must confess I did miss our open-air bathroom. There is nothing like showering out under the stars or washing your hair in a tropical downpour, and cleaning your teeth out in the sunshine in the morning is a nice way to start day. Our washing got soaked on several occasions when left to dry in the bathroom before an unexpected shower.

The rest of our days are somewhat of a blur of swimming, walking, and generally relaxing, until Thursday when we were invited to go for a tour of the north with a lovely couple from Queensland that we met at the hotel. Whilst breakfasting one morning we detected the lilting tones of an Australian accent, quite a change from the German, Danish and generally European accents that were so prevalent in this particular hotel. We began chatting to find that Maureen and Rod were retired and on their first visit to Bali. They mentioned that they had hired the services of a Bemo driver to take them on a tour of the north and they wondered if we would like to accompany them, we accepted as we had not been on an organised tour for some time and thought it would be fun. We drove north through the mountains, stopping for fruit and photos. We stopped at Bedugal market and then went on to Git Git Waterfall. Next stop was a restaurant on the north coast outside Singaraja for a buffet lunch. After a pleasant meal we proceeded on to visit the village of the bemo driver, who's name I can't remember. He took us to his home and showed us around. It was not the open compound type of home that so many Balinese live in. It was almost like one of our houses, with bedrooms, bathroom and kitchen areas. After the guided tour 'Auntie' gave us fresh brewed Bali Coffee and rice cakes. Very pleasant and unexpected. Auntie must have been 80 years old, and I'm sure having Australian tourists over for afternoon tea is not quite what she was used to. But she was very hospitable despite the fact that we could not communicate very well. The village children were greatly amused by us, and thought it great fun to follow when we were shown around their village, laughing and giggling all the way. They were very shy and did not like having their photos taken at first, until we made a game of it. As we were about to leave, one small boy very shyly handed me a flower, a very touching gesture from one so young. Maureen and Rod enjoyed their adventure very much and I'm sure they would love to do it again.

To show them our appreciation for inviting us on their tour we asked if they would like to join us on our visit to the evening market at the Kereneng Bemo Station the following evening, which they happily accepted. John and I had decided to visit the market as we had heard it to be very interesting and we had not been before. We left the hotel at 4.30 by taxi and found the market already in full swing. There were stalls everywhere packed with every conceivable item. We had spent a couple of hours wandering about when it started to rain and within a couple of minutes it was thundering down sending people running in all directions for cover. We decided it was time to go back to the hotel, but hadn't counted on the shortage of taxis in such a non-tourist district. We stood under the cover of one of the market stalls for many minutes trying to catch site of a stray taxi, to no avail. Suddenly a young Balinese man called out he had located one for us and we ran across the road, which had become a river by this stage, by the time we were inside the taxi we were all soaked to the skin, hair dripping. When we arrived back at the hotel we decided to dry off and wait for the deluge to subside before going out to dinner. However, after waiting on the porch of our adjoining rooms for quite some time we decided to make a run for it and once again were soaked. We decided the little warung at the front of the hotel was closest so ran there, arriving drenched and bedraggled. We dried off with paper serviettes and had a pleasant meal to the sound of the thundering tropical rainstorm. It was great fun and John and I agree this was some of the best fun we have had in Bali. Unfortunately, this was our last night in Bali and we eventually had to retire to our room to pack and prepare to leave the following morning as we were on the 11.30 flight for Perth and would have to leave straight after breakfast.

We got up sadly to shower, dress and breakfast before saying goodbye yet again. Maureen and Rod had hired a bemo to take them down to Nusa Dua for the day and offered us a lift to the airport, which was much nicer than hiring a taxi. We said our goodbyes and exchanged photos and addresses, then enviously watched them drive off as we entered the airport. After the usual formalities we were on the plane and waiting to takeoff for home. We were really looking forward to being home with the children again, as we had missed them greatly, but it was tinged with sadness at leaving beautiful Bali. Never mind we will be back as soon as we can.

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